Many functions of modern devices in automotive, consumer and industrial applications, such as converting electrical energy and driving an electric motor or an electric machine, rely on semiconductor devices. For example Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs), Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) and diodes have been used for various applications including, but not limited to switches in power supplies and power converters.
Often, it is desirable to provide such power semiconductor devices with a soft switch-off behavior, i.e., to avoid, for example, a too early or too sudden break-down of the reverse recovery current during switch-off of a power semiconductor diode. At the same time, it is generally desirable to minimize the switching losses of power semiconductor devices. Such characteristics of a power semiconductor device can, e.g., be relevant for hard switching applications operating at high switching frequencies.